Eluded (22 page)

"What? What did you
say?"

"Forget it."

"No. You said I was driving you
crazy. Like?" Our faces were inches from one another, and
instinctively, I closed my eyes and leaned forward.

Abbot didn't. "As much as I want
to kiss you right now, I can't," he whispered across my lips. And I
wanted him to.

"Fuck," I said, taking myself from
the moment remembering why I made Abbot stop. The mood swiftly
changed when I said the next words. "He's in there. That's where he
lives."

Abbot pulled away from me and
raised his eyebrow. "Here? Like right here?" Abbot didn't wait for
me to answer before he grabbed my arm and pulled me to the Range
Rover. "Get in the goddamned car." Once he was in the driver’s
seat, he slammed on the gas then circled the block. "Are you
absolutely positive?"

"Yes. There is no way I would
mistake that thirteen. He's in there, but there are several floors
in that building, and I'm not sure what some of them hold. There is
a floor where everything is black and light barely reflects from
the walls, then a few floors up everything is white."

"Derrick is fucking crazy," Liam
said.

Abbot drove to Oxford Street,
parallel parked between two cars, then he opened his phone and
barked orders at people on the other line. I wasn't sure what was
about to happen, but it seemed like the gates of hell were pouring
out onto the streets of London with every call Abbot
made.

"I want him alive and watched.
Tell me if he leaves. Tell me where he goes," Abbot
said.

After he hung up, Liam leaned
forward between the leather seats. "I guess this means we aren't
meeting him this afternoon?"

"Actually, we're not. He doesn't
get to call the shots. I take orders from no one." Abbot smiled,
then veered out in front of traffic and headed back to the
warehouse. In chess, this would be the moment where the pawn became
a deadly piece of the game.

"What about my cousin? I have to
go to her. I have to go tonight."

"No. Not fucking happening. End of
discussion."

The metal gate opened as we pulled
into the shelled road. Abbot drove fast but never lost control of
the vehicle. Dust didn't kick up in our wake like it had before,
because of the light rains. The warehouse was full of vehicles
outside, and we pulled into the bay at a fast speed. My heart was
pounding, and I felt like I was slowly losing myself. If I didn't
get to Lindsey, I'd never be able to forgive myself.

Inside, Abbot turned off the
lights, and we exited. The smell of food wafted from the big open
room, and we walked to it. When we entered, everyone seemed too
quiet. Not sure if it was out of respect for Abbot or me, but it
made me a little nervous. Liam tilted his head toward a few men,
and they did the same. Buffet-style food lined the wall. Abbot
grabbed a plate and filled it full with chicken, potatoes, and
broccoli. My mouth watered at the sight of all the food, and I
finally realized how hungry I had been. I couldn't remember the
last meal I’d eaten.

Liam stacked his plate full, and I
only put a small amount on mine. We sat at picnic-style tables. I
ate the food without enjoying the taste, and once I was finished, I
felt so full that it hurt. Abbot talked quietly to Liam about a
plan that would take place in the next few days, and I couldn't
help but think about Lindsey. What was Derrick doing to her right
now? Right at that moment? And what about Sophie? Was she okay, or
was he taking his anger out on her?

"What's wrong?" Abbot
asked.

I shook my head.

"Something is bothering you. I can
tell." He scooted his body close until our legs and arms were
touching. The closeness shocked me, but I didn't pull
away.

"Derrick has my cousin. I don't
want anything to happen to her or the other women, and the longer
we wait, the longer I stay away, the higher the risk is for
them."

I was scared for them, and yeah,
maybe that did radiate from me, but I couldn't help it.

He placed his arm across my back
and rubbed gently, then whispered, "They will be okay."

Doubt was a wicked emotion, one
that I couldn't run from or deny. I doubted that they would be okay
after Abbot and I didn't meet him.

"Let me meet him today. This
afternoon. Let me go."

Abbot grabbed the bottom of my
chin and forced me to look into his eyes. "That's out of the
question."

I exhaled a long deep breath, but
he continued to hold my gaze. "Why? I don't matter. I've told you
this several times before. I don't want anything to happen to them,
and if you bring me back, maybe he will spare their lives for
mine."

He didn't have to say anything,
because I knew his answer. It wouldn't happen. He removed his hand,
and we sat for quite a while at the long tables. After listening to
everyone chat about insignificant things, I stood. Abbot looked up
at me like I had lost my mind. Maybe I had.

"I'm tired. I need to go lie
down." With a head nod, he gave his approval. All heads turned and
watched me walk down the long hallway that led to the warehouse
bay.

"You'll need the keys to get in."
As I turned, he threw me a set of keys. As I continued to walk
away, I noticed that I had the keys to the Range Rover,
too.

At that moment, a choice had to be
made, a critical one—go upstairs or go to Derrick.

ABBOT

Thirty-one

E
very step of what would
happen to Derrick was planned, down to the minute, as I sat in the
dining hall talking to my men. After we broke into the building and
checked each floor, I would find him, bring him here, and teach him
his final lesson before killing him. The lesson being, he should
have never fucked with me. Without Lauren, I might have never found
his hideout so quickly, but I would have found it. Crazy enough, he
was only a few blocks away from my building. I rolled my eyes
thinking about the little things we had in common. If we wouldn't
have clashed so badly, and if he weren't a psychopath, our paths
would have been much different.

I walked up the stairs and entered
the unlocked flat. Water ran in the distance. After a few more
minutes, the water turned off, and Lauren strutted out with a towel
wrapped around her. When she headed for the closet, she caught
sight of me and fear covered her.

"I didn't mean to startle
you."

Her body shook with fright so I
went to her and placed my arms on her shoulders. She wrapped her
arms around me and pulled me close to her body. Drips of water ran
from the tips of her hair onto my arms, but I didn't mind. "Shhh.
It's okay. Seriously. You're okay."

Lauren looked up into my eyes like
I was the man meant to save her world, but I was far from that. I
could barely save myself. She tightened her grasp around my waist
and leaned deeper into my chest, tucking her head into the crook in
my neck. While I knew I should push her away, I couldn't. She
smelled of fresh soap, shampoo, and skin.

"Abbot."

"Hmm?"

"Make love to me."

No words. None. I didn't have
one.

She backed away from me and
dropped the towel to the ground. The man inside of me admired her
body; her perky breasts and pink nipples, and the definition and
tone of her stomach.
Fuck.
It was hard for me to resist her
as she bit her bottom lip so seductively. My dick went hard, and I
couldn't help but ball my fists in protest. Lauren moved closer to
me and unbuttoned my shirt. Her intoxicating breath lingered on my
skin and I wanted nothing more than to take her right then and
there. The more she touched me, the more I wanted to unleash myself
on her, to give her every piece of me that she wanted. But I
doubted she could handle it. I didn't hold back from anyone. I
fucked for fun.

My shirt fell to the ground. With
light fingers, she traced the outlines of my tattoos, then
unbuttoned and unzipped my pants. My body couldn't take her
advances any longer. I grabbed her by the wrists and slammed her up
against the bathroom door and leaned into her. My dick pressed
against her, and I knew she felt it.

"We can't do this,
Lauren."

"Please, Abbot. I need to forget.
I want something else, someone else to think about. If we do this,
maybe the madness will stop."

With her words, my grasp
loosened.

"Let me behind your wall, Abbot.
Take my pain away," she said.

I couldn't help but hang on to
each word she said, and that alone scared the fuck out of
me.

"I can't. We can't." I let go of
her and took a step back, and she instinctively took a step forward
and unbuckled the sheath that held the knives I kept strapped
around my hips at all times. I swallowed and closed my eyes as she
ran her hands across my chest.

We were only inches apart from one
another. Heat from her skin, and her smell, rushed over me and
drove me crazy.

"The tempter or the tempted, who
sins most?" I whispered.

She looked at me with wide
eyes.

I smiled. "Shakespeare," I said
softly.

Immediately she shot me a look
because I didn't need to tell her who wrote it.

As she kissed over my chest and up
my neck, she whispered, "I like this place and could willingly
waste my time in it."

"Oh touché with your Shakespearean
knowledge. And it comes from which one?"

"
As You Like It
, total
classic."

She was becoming more playful with
me. I placed my finger over her mouth and looked down into her
eyes, then my lips gently grazed her bottom lip. For a second, she
stopped breathing. I smiled as I brushed my lips across hers,
memorizing the softness with every movement. With every touch, I
was slowly losing myself.

Her hands rested around my hips,
and every ounce of me wanted to lay her down on the bed and fuck
her senseless. If I were to be with her, it wouldn't be because she
needed a rebound. How fucking cheap would that make me? She needed
to conquer her demons without that. Though she was persistent and
eager to fuck me, I somehow found the strength to break away from
her hypnotic taste.

"Lauren. We aren't doing this. I
won't have a pity fuck. I've got more respect for you than
that."

Hurt and anger flashed in her
eyes, but I didn't care. Being with her would open the Pandora's
Box of my heart, and I didn't have time for that shit.

I buttoned and zipped my pants,
grabbed my holster from the floor, and sat at the kitchen table.
Lauren walked away, and when she returned, she was fully clothed in
workout pants and one of my old t-shirts.

"I'm sorry," she said, shooting
daggers at me.

"It's no problem. Let's forget it
happened," I said, but I wouldn't be forgetting any time
soon.

"Yeah. That's probably best." She
lifted the blankets from the bed and climbed underneath. Silently,
I cursed myself for not fucking her, for not laying her down on
that bed and treating her how she deserved to be treated. The last
thing I needed was for one night of sex to complicate something
that was already becoming problematic. Once feelings were involved,
sex became more than physical. It became personal, emotional, and
most of all, complex.

After she had fallen asleep, I lay
on top of the blankets and stared at the wall. With her next to me,
it was almost impossible to fall asleep. I wondered if I had made
the right decision and cursed myself several times.

For hours, I listened to the soft
sounds of her breathing. Eventually, I fell asleep, and when I did,
I dreamed of Lauren's lips and body, kissing every inch of her,
then bringing her to completion. In my dreams, I allowed myself to
do things to her that I wouldn't in reality.

Her wanting me was heavy on my
mind, and a piece of me wanted her too. But I had enough willpower
to stop the progression of something that quite possibly might be
inevitable.

Lauren was nothing more than a
sweet, toxic poison that begged me to drink, only to find out
afterward that the entire world had changed and there was no going
back.

She would be trouble.

She would be life
changing.

She would be the end of
me.

LAUREN

Thirty-two

A
s much as I hated being
denied, I understood. Abbot wouldn't fuck me just for the sake of
fucking, even though it was more than that to me. He didn't fully
understand.

I wanted to forget Derrick. I
wanted Abbot to take those horrible memories away from me and bury
them, but he didn't, he wouldn't. Instead, the skin I remembered on
mine wasn't his, but Derrick's, and I hated it. Abbot was sexy with
his messy hair and hazel eyes, and the way his lean muscles
contracted when he slipped a shirt over his body. His occasional
smiles turned me to sand, that slipped and filled his deep
cracks.

That man was the essence of sex,
protection, and honor. Though I fantasized about being with him
when those little instances of adoration and love escaped from him,
something inside of me told me it wouldn't work. He was a brick
wall that I couldn't smash through.